Who will get the giant thumbs-up? Six sculptures shortlisted for coveted place on Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square

A giant thumbs-up, a moon face and a sculpture echoing parts of Trafalgar Square’s permanent statues are in the running to be the next Fourth Plinth commission, it was announced today.

The other proposals are a skeletal horse with an electronic ribbon with the live ticker from the London Stock Exchange, an outcrop of rocks from Yorkshire and a pair of dancing cones.

Competition: from left, proposals from David Shrigley, Hans Haacke and Ugo Rondinone
Announcing the line-up today, Ekow Eshun, chair of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, said the quality and range of the list demonstrated the strength of the contemporary art programme which has placed art on the vacant plinth since 1999.

The public get their chance to comment after visiting an exhibition of the models in The Crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields church.

Li liane Lijn's The Dance
The 10-metre thumb, to be cast in bronze and called Really Good, is the idea of David Shrigley, 45, the Macclesfield-born, Glasgow-based artist known for an often satiric wit.

“It is my hope that this piece would make Trafalgar Square, London, the UK and the world a better place. And it would be quite a cost-effective way of doing it,” he said.

Mark Leckey's Larger Squat Afar
Moon Mask is the brainwave of Ugo Rondinone, 49, a Swiss-born, New York-based artist who is obsessed with time and has taken inspiration from African tribal masks. “Our connection to other people is our face. Our alternate self is a mask,” he said.

Former Turner Prize winner Mark Leckey, 49, who lives and works in London, wants to take elements from statues such as James II and Amiral Jellicoe and even details from the fountain to create Larger Squat Afar, an anagram of Trafalgar Square.

The skeletal Gift Horse is the idea of 77-year-old German Hans Haacke, who lives in New York, London-born Marcus Coates, 45, wants to bring a natural Yorkshire outcrop, Unmade Monument, while the kinetic cones, called The Dance, are the proposal of Liliane Lijn, 74, a New Yorker also based in London.

Marcus Coates's Unmade Monument
Mayor Boris Johnson, who helps fund the scheme, said: “The placing of challenging artwork amidst the historic surroundings of Trafalgar Square creates a delicious justaposition that gets people talking and debating, underpinning London’s reputation as a great world city for culture.

Two artists will be selected early next year from the shortlist of six with their works being unveiled in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The exhibition runs from tomorrow [wed] until November 17, admission free.